A Polish village. A beautiful summer. A grandson with his parents visit his grandfather. At first, it seems that nothing apart from the typical petty neighbourly disputes can disrupt the portrayal of this Arcadia. It quickly turns out, however, that a trip to the orchard for wild apples will not only put an end to this idyllic state of things, but will also bring back the demons of the past.
Agata Bara’s The Garden / Ogród addresses the complicated subject of history, identity and the necessity of making choices for the inhabitants of Silesia. The strength of this work lies not only in its subject matter as this album is wonderfully executed and very graphically aesthetic. The action takes place in two time frames: in declining communist Poland and during World War II. The scenery and realities of the 80s are predominant, but it is the events from the war that are the key moments. One might accuse certain parts of the plot of being overly enigmatic. Not all of the historic events have been shown clearly enough - one might consider this to be confirmed by the explanatory note featured in the end of the comic book.
The Garden isn’t, however, a historical comic book - this work is chiefly an intimate family drama. Bara may indeed expect a lot from the reader, but she doesn’t raise the bar too high. The aforementioned unclearness corresponds to the dark and equivocal atmosphere of the period of martial law. Not much is known about the characters and their worlds; Bara can compose real heroes from small elements: episodes, gestures or fragments of conversations. She doesn’t need more than two or three frames to show tension, alienation or rejection. The author also managed to convey the atmosphere of a vacation in a village which is filled with sunshine and warmth and at the same time pulsates with hidden problems and mysteries. Even though the plot is strongly embedded in Polish historical realities, the story was told metaphorically and universally enough for the story to be sufficiently legible even outside of Poland. The quality of the album was confirmed by the appearance of two foreign editions: the German version is titled Der Garten and the French one Le Verger.